Yay for “tax cuts” or “tax status quo”

Big news this week. Hell must have frozen over because there was finally something that both congressional Democrats and Republicans could agree to, a bill extending the tax cuts put into place by former President Bush. The very same ones he vowed to repeal on the campaign trail (don’t have a link for that one yet). The bill also included maintaining the tax rates for those evil evil top 1% of earners. I know… how dare they work hard to be successful and not share with the rest of us lazy people who don’t want to work hard, right?

I’m not going to advocate the need for increasing taxes in these difficult economic times. I think that would probably make things a lot worse. People would have a lot less money to spend and the economy would probably start to slow down again. However this bill simply does not make ANY sense. First off, the bill that was just signed is not a tax cut. No one’s taxes are going down, they are just staying at the rates established by President Bush. It should be more appropriately named the “Tax Status Quo Bill”. The main reason why I have difficulty with this bill is because of the 13 month extension of unemployment benefits. Again, being in a position where you are on unemployment must be very difficult and (like tax increases) I am not advocating an elimination of extensions of benefits. It too would probably make things worse. But these two things coupled together simply makes no sense to me!

It costs money for the government to pay people who are temporarily out of work. The government gets its money from taxation. So we are going to continue to pay more of our money to people who are out of work but not increase the revenue stream that we are using to pay them? WTF? In what universe does this add up? This is like me quitting my job on Monday morning then going out to buy a 50 inch plasma screen television that afternoon. I would be bankrupt by Friday with that kind of logic.

The only way I can see this working is if the unchanged tax rates spur further economic growth thus prompting more tax revenue to be taken in by the government via Art Laffer’s supply side economic theory (nerd alert, nerd alert… I apologize). Don’t look now, but if this works, you “tax and spend democrats” have just endorsed supply side economics and turned your backs on your “soak the rich” ways. You may have some explainin’ to do!

I however remain skeptical as President Bush’s tax rates have not really spurred much growth over the past couple of years and they have left my paycheck and wallet feeling kind of light.

2010 Racing Recap!

You are probably wondering why I have not posted in a long while. Since my last post, we have seen the November elections come and go and have watched a few ludicrous arguments over tax cuts unemployment benefits and Lame duck Congressional sessions. One would think that this loud mouthed blogger would have something to say about all of that. Honestly, I have been too busy and lazy to do so. In due time… it will come.

Anyway, I last week I ran a 5k Road race, the Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis. This race capped off my 2010 racing year (much to the chagrin of Chris – my fellow running partner who is training for the Boston Marathon).

2010 was a big racing year for me, so let’s recap:

Before putting foot to pavement, I laid out a schedule that began in April and concluded in December. The schedule alternated longer races and shorter 5k races about every 3-4 weeks. This approach allowed me to be constantly motivated to train for something new, but not get burned out in the process.

I started in May with the Brighton Fun and Fit 5k with a time of 24:29. For Brad and I, this was the first race we had done in quite some time. It was a crucial first step in returning to racing. This was a relatively new race so the field of runners was small. As a result, I took home a prize for the top finisher in my age group. I had never received a prize for running before. My time was nothing impressive, but it was a great way to get motivated to keep running throughout the year! Later in May, I ran in the Lilac Festival 10k crossing with a time of 51:18 (ran race with Chris… much further ahead of me). I love this race and have enjoyed running it before. My time was not good compared to previous years (where I ran closer to 48 minutes. However, I did get my race number autographed by Dick Beardsley! (Another first). Also notable to mention… Chris and I cheered on Brad and Emily as they ran in the 5k race prior to the 10k. Good job Emily!

June started off with another one of my favorite races… the J.P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge 3.5 mile. This marked the 4th time that I have ran this race. I ALWAYS push my self in this race. The crowd is huge and it’s familiar terrain as I ran the RIT campus loop at least a couple times every week while in grad school. I crossed with a net time of 25:53. There are some gaps in my training records for previous time I have ran this race, but my time this year was substantially off from my 2008 time (about a minute). I’ll come back ant hit that race hard in 2011. In order to really push my self, I ran another race just 2 days later. The Nazareth College Sprint for Scholarships 5k. I ran with Brad and used it more as a recovery run, but pushed my legs in the second half of the race. Time: 24:06, faster than the first 5k of the year by about 20 seconds! As if that was not enough, I ran in the Festival on the Green 5k with a time of 23:40, another PR for the year. Finally, my times are dropping!

Now comes July with my first significant mountain to face. The Utica Boilermaker 15k. My first time running in a field of 14,000 runners and first time running 15k distance. A brave step into new territory leading to a net time of 1:22:31. A rather slow pace due to the difficulty of dealing with a crowd of runners that size. Now I know what to expect… I will be back in 2011 to top that time!

In the weeks following the Boilermaker I developed an injury that forced me to switch to biking for a couple of weeks. That was not going to stop me though. I kept active, eased back into running and healed things up. I had to keep running because August had a very important race, the Peter James Cannon Memorial 5k. This was to benefit the scholarship fund set up following Peter’s tragic death in a car accident during February. On one of the hottest evenings of the summer, I ran a 23:04, a PR for the year… by 37 seconds. Impressive.

September, now comes the big one. I have had my eyes and focus on this race all year: The Rochester Half Marathon. 13.1 miles looping from Downtown Rochester, through Brighton, the canal trail, U of R, Corn Hill and finishing at Frontier Field. My Mount Rainier. Uncharted racing territory. Ran 12 miles with the encouragement of Chris (thanks again Chris). Crossed the line in 1:48:42 for my first ever half marathon!

Surprisingly, I recovered pretty quickly. I did not race in October, but focused on increasing the distances of my individual training runs. However in November, a new challenge faced me. The Mendon Trail Runs 20k (12.4 miles). When making my race schedule, I decided to include this race as a part of my training. A 10k loop through the relentless hilly, root covered dirt trails of Mendon Ponds park. Finish the loop… and run it again. After two days of cold rain and the first snowfall of the year starting 15 minutes before the race start, Chris and I tackled this beast. It took us 2:00:28 to complete. The longest sustained effort I have ever had for a race. My first experience with a trail race was painful. I was glad it was over, but I was glad I did it.

Finally, to finish out off. December had one final 5k race, the Jingle Bell 5k Run for Arthritis. The plan: run it as a time trial, push what ever else you have out of your legs. I did just that with a time of 22:02! That’s the fastest 5k I have on record for me! About 2.5 minutes faster than where I was in April. What a great way to finish the year.

• 9 Races
• 60 total miles raced
• 8 hours, 26 minutes and 13 seconds
• 8:26 overall race pace
  

Now I break from running until February 2011, through I may do some other exercises that won’t pound on my legs so much. Next year is the big one… the Rochester Marathon. September 18, 2011. Time to climb Everest.

Day 2 of my recovery

If you have followed my twitter and facebook updates you already have noted that I achieved my goal of running my first half marathon. Given that it was my first race at this distance, I could not be more thrilled with my performance.

Sunday morning was rather chilly, cloudy and in the upper 50's. The race began (at 7:45AM) with Chris, Brad and my self running about the first 4 miles in a pack. The fact that we were very chatty and animated during that time helped put my mind at ease. I kind of forgot that I was embarking on a 13.1 mile journey! My pacing was fantastic despite it being my first half marathon race. In the first 5 miles, I was between 8:20 and 8:30 pace. In the remaining miles, I dropped to a pace between 8:00 and 8:15. With every mile split I was pleasantly surprised each time I looked at my watch! I even managed to hit near 8:05 for miles 12 and 13.

When all was said and done:

• I crossed the finish line with a time of 1 hour, 48 minutes and 42 seconds, an overall pace of 8 minutes 18 seconds per mile. This was enough to earn me my Silver Medal Goal. I placed 323 out of 1838 half marathon finishers and 37 out of 110 in my age group (Male 25-29).
• Chris ran nearly the entire half marathon with me (12 miles) before breaking away and finishing ahead of me. This was after he ran about 8 or 9 miles before the race. He had to get in about 23 miles of training for his first marathon scheduled for October.
• Brad crossed the line with a time near 2 hours and 7 minutes... this was only after running through some significant pain in the last 5 miles. He believes he somehow sprained his foot. The medics were quick to elevate and ice his foot shortly after his finish. He's back home in New Hampshire reporting a swollen and sore foot... but hopes to return to training once swelling drops down.
• And of course... Kiel, the runner in our group with prior marathon experience ran the full marathon and crossed the line in a time of 3 hours and 24 minutes.
  

Two days later I can report that I am sore EVERYWHERE on my body... not just legs, but arms, back, abs and hips. It is all muscle soreness as far as I can tell. The type that will eventually go away allowing me to (hopefully soon) run some more.

There you have it. I have summited my Mount Rainier.
Cheers to that!

The final moments before facing the BIG race.

At this time tomorrow I should be recovering from my 13.1 mile journey around the greater Rochester metropolitan area and hopefully will be cheering in Kiel who will be working to completing a 26.2 mile journey.

I am of course referring to the Rochester Half Marathon which takes place tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM. Today will be a day of picking up my packet, touching base with my friends who are running it, planning and packing my bag, some Advil and ice for a troublesome foot and of course... lots of carbs, anxiousness and nerves!

For those of you familiar with my previous posts on the topic, you might recall how I equated running the marathon with climbing Mount Everest and scaled distances of shorter runs to various mountains of proportional size. (see this post) So in terms of running, I summit Mount Rainier (or the Matterhorn for those of you in Switzerland). I don't take this challenge lightly either because my performance tomorrow is going to be a gauge and milestone for my fitness and ability to progress further towards running in the full marathon next fall at this time.

I don't know why I should be nervous because I have been working towards this goal for almost a year. I ran a 12 mile run without any issues 2 weeks ago. I felt completely comfortable doing so. I have put about 400 miles into training and ran various races over the past year! If you look at my training patterns (generated on www.logyourrun.com) they are probably FAR from ideal... as I have had good weeks and bad weeks where my discipline broke down and I missed some runs.
All I know is that about 2 years ago due to some significant stomach problems, my running dropped off to nearly nothing. I could not even eat breakfast without feeling nauseous! It's hard to run when you can't fuel the engine. I have come quite a ways since then... and I have no plans of stopping.

Goals for tomorrow:
Gold: time of 1:45:00 (~8:00 min/mile pace) --> A lofty goal, but I'm setting the bar high.
Silver: time of 1:51:00 (~8:30 min/mile pace)
Bronze: time of 1:58:00 (~9:00 min/mile pace)
Honorable mention: Complete the race without taking significant (>3-5 minutes) walk breaks.

What ever happened to the phrase "In bad taste"?

Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach center in Gainesville, Florida is planning on burning copies of the Quran (the holy book of the religion of Islam) on September 11. How that is any sort of rational outreach to the rest of the world is beyond me. It's going to put our troops overseas in harms way. He should be prevented from doing this, right?

Well, this is where that annoying libertarian voice in me starts to speak.

People are free in this country to burn the United States Flag in protest, don white robes and burn crucifixes, burn copies of the Quran/Bible, etc., write and air satirical cartoons depicting Jesus and or the Prophet Muhammad, make art works depicting the Virgin Mary out of elephant dung... hell, even an Imam can build a Mosque adjacent to Ground Zero!

What's common between these things? For starters, they are all things that have actually happened (or may happen in the case of Terry Jones' plans)... read the list again, surprising to consider all of this as reality!

One may suggest that these actions are all done "In bad taste". Have we forgotten what this means? There are various things that we are free to do, but choose not to do them because they are simply in bad taste. It is these things that usually are not very helpful at fostering outreach and building bridges to begin with. How much outreach and "bridge-building" is Quran burning (or Mosque building at Ground Zero for that matter) really going to foster? However, the concept of "bad taste" does not seem to matter any more.

Since this is [unfortunately] the case, we are put in a position where we have to civilly disagree. By that I mean we can choose not watch the satirical cartoon and view the piece of artwork we find offensive. We can chose no longer to attend the Dove World Outreach center. Civility is key though because if you wish to disagree by physically harming those who offend you (like those over seas might do towards our troops), that too is "in bad taste" and it just continues the cycle over and over.

Happy Labor Day Weekend.

Labor day weekend 2010 was spent ironically doing just that... laboring! For some odd reason I felt the desire to clean, organize and de-clutter much of the apartment. To pile some more work into my weekend, I had the opportunity to play with a new toy that Emily bought me, a canning starter kit.

Yeah, I know, it sounds pretty lame but when Emily and I went to the Rochester Public Market (recently awarded title of "Best Market in the Nation"), I had this crazy idea that I could take some if this fresh inexpensive produce and preserve it for future enjoyment during the winter. I watched my father and grandparents do this... how hard could it be? Surprisingly, not that difficult at all.

Basically: 1) Cut up stuff, 2) Cook stuff, 3) Put stuff in jars, 4) process in boiling water
DONE!

I made a pretty kick-ass salsa, a marinara sauce (which turned out OK) and just today got even more fresh tomatoes and jars from my dad. I'll keep seeing what I can whip up with this new found skill!

It was not all work this weekend though. Just today Emily and I traveled out to Buffalo to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday. Yesterday we attended a welcome back party for a friend of ours who recently returned from the Peace Corps. And of course, most importantly, I drafted my fantasy football team on Saturday night. Let the fun begin!

I also fit in an 8 mile run this morning... Rochester Half Marathon in less than a week.

Don't blink... Summer is almost ov... oh, there it goes!

Summer 2010 is now over (albeit, unofficially) and I have done a poor job of blogging about it.

I will take an opportunity right now to touch on my progress with running this summer and where I stand with that. I'd also like to post some pictures of my recent trip to New York City as well.

July 11 was a big milestone for me in that I ran the Utica Boilermaker 15k (9.3 miles) race for the first time. This happened after years of forgetting to register on time, and having one excuse after another. I wish I had done it sooner! Not only was this the first time I ran this particular race but it was also the first race at a distance over 10k (6.2 miles). About 7 miles in, a feeling of "Yes, I am actually doing this!" set in. That was followed up after the finish by an adrenaline fueled feeling of "Yeah... I feel like I could push my body a little further." That's a great thing considering I am running the Rochester Half marathon in 9 days.

With about 13,000 runners, it was also the largest race I have ever participated in. It goes without saying that the post race party was a great time. Got to meet up with several fellow runners from Nazareth and Coach Love.

I ran a time of 1:22:31, which is fine since I really have no particular frame of reference for what to expect as I run races of such a distance. I experienced some tightness of my Achilles tendons during the 7-8th miles but pushed through it. My legs stood up quite well to the race but in the weeks following I did experience some pain in my foot that kept me from doing much running in the week after. With rigorous ankle and foot strengthening exercises, icing, careful cross training and slowly resuming running, I bounced back pretty well.

Stay tuned, the big one... Rochester Half Marathon is looming on the horizon!

Reason # 2371 Why I Love My Fiance.

Yesterday morning, a group of my friends (Brad, Chris and Kiel) met up at our apartment for our weekly long run. Normally when you return from a long run you feel rather famished and lethargic to the point where it may be tough to be motivated enough to put together a decent breakfast.

Upon our return though, we were greeted with a nice spread of bagels, orange juice, cereal, oatmeal, cantaloupe and bananas thanks to Emily who took a trip to Wegman's for us while we were out. We were more than happy to devour everything until we were replenished.

And that's one of the many reasons why I love my fiance. :-)

Quite possibly the most amazing scaled image I have ever seen!

I recently stumbled across this the other day from the following website. It is a graphic that is drawn to scale showing the features of the planet from the highest point on Mount Everest down to the lowest point of the Oceans. It is meant to depict how deep the Deep Water Horizon drilling rig was actually drilling for oil before its accident. That in its self is pretty incredible, but this graphic also has lots of facts and bits of information about the rest of the planet. I think it’s fascinating.

TIP: Try saving the image, opening it up in a separate window, zoom out on the image and view it all at once. That really puts the incredible extremes of our planet into perspective!

I think this also sets a personal record for me… physically the LONGEST blog post EVER!

Episode #1: STFU already!

This is the first edition of something new I am going to try. You know how sometimes there are just certain voices in the world that just keep spouting off to the point where all you want to do is shout "STFU already!!!"? (That's STFU = shut the fu#@ up, for those of you not down with the abbreviations.) Well, here's a column (with hopefully many episodes to come) dedicated to those special people

1. Helen Thomas

Telling the Jews to "Get the hell out of Palestine." Oh my! Could you think of anything more controversial, racial or antisemitic to say? Now I know you are like 320 years old and probably pretty senile, but with all that experience being in the press corps, shouldn't you be better at being an unbiased reporter of the news? Though your stellar record indicates otherwise. So please...

STFU already!!!

2. Paul McCartney

Recently won an award from the Library of Congress (The Gershwin Prize) and upon accepting the award stated how after the past 8 years "...it's great to have a president who knows what a library is." HA HA HA... HA HA HA... oh, look at the celebrity make fun of President Bush's intelligence. So edgy and fresh. We've never seen that before. Except isn't Bush's wife Laura a librarian and a teacher... and didn't President Bush graduate from Yale, which I am pretty sure you need to know how to read in order to be accepted. Come to think of it, Paul, you never even went to college! You're no comedian Paul, so stick to writing songs (though thouse kind of suck anyway).

STFU already!!!

3. Arianna Huffington

According to you the Gulf oil spill was "...a thousand percent Bush-Cheny's fault." OMFG! Thousands of people blaming Haliburton and Bush/Cheny for the spill... really does nothing to solve the problem now does it? How far are people going to push this passing of the blame concept? Gulf oil spill... Bush/Cheny's fault, We're stuck in Iraq... Bush/Cheny's fault, I failed my math test... Bush/Cheny's fault, I have a paper cut on my finger... Bush Cheny's fault.

STFU already!!!

4. Barack Obama (Honorable Mention)

Not too long ago I herd a sound bite where President Obama gave a warning to the Jonas brothers about making a pass on his daughters. "I have 2 words for you... Predator Drones." OK, I am going to have to give the President props here. I withhold my STFU already! and instead deliver a Pretty damn funny! You know there are other fathers worried about their daughters out there who would love to have some Predator Drones at their disposal. he he he.

I can't believe I am compelled to write commentary about a spelling bee.

Neetu Chandak, 14 year old Seneca Falls student was recently eliminated from the Scripps National Spelling Bee when she spelled the word paravane incorrectly (incorrectly spelled p-e-r-o-v-a-n-e, for those of you keeping score at home). Incorrect, very sorry, good job, try again next year, end of story... right? Not exactly.

Mom stepped in and protested that her daughter was "mislead" when the judges told her that the word was of Greek origin. O.K., I suppose I understand since the Merriam-Webster dictionary has the etymology of the word placed in French and English origins, but one could argue that if she knew how to spell the word properly to begin with, the judge's actions would not be an issue. Does the average 14 year old even know how to spell this word let alone know if it is Greek, French or Swahili in origin?

I want to give the competitor the benefit of the doubt but this strikes me as a manifestation of society of coddling, entitlement and general protection from failure that some children are raised under. It's not just children doing this though. How many baseball fans this week bitched and moaned because Bud Selig would not (at the time of this post) overturn a botched call that would have given Detroit Tigers pitcher a perfect game?

Also buried in this article is this line:

"The audience gasped, shoulders slumped, and speller after speller was escorted offstage to the comfort room as the 48 semifinalists were whittled down..."

Comfort room?

I've played my share of competitive sports (mainly baseball for 9 years, didn't really get into the competitive spelling scene). I was on teams that had losing seasons (losing every single game) and winning seasons (winning every single game). There was no "comfort room" to retreat to when you lost. You just learned how to shake it off, dust your self off, learn from mistakes made and try harder again next game. Loosing was tough, but it made the winning moments so much more coveted and appreciated.

What are these kids going to do when they get into the real world where there is no "comfort room" to retreat to when bad things happen? There's no comfort room for when you lose your job or your business fails. There's no comfort room to retreat to when you are a surgeon who loses a patient on the operating table due to a mistake. And no amount of protesting from mommy is going to fix life's inevitable bumps and failures. You just need to learn from it and figure out how to move forward.

Maybe I am being too harsh, but perhaps learning from failure is a passing concept.

2010 JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge

RIT is commonly known as "The Brick City", but at least once every year RIT becomes "Tent City" as companies from the Rochester area move in for the 3.5 mile JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Race. I of course was there.

The massive tiered starting line to accomodate the estimated 9,100 runners.

Our company getting ready for our team picture before the race.

The race its self was a perfect culmination of conditions. It was near 70 degrees, cloudy and just as the race began, it started to rain. The rain tapered off and gave way to sun at the exact moment I crossed the finish line. This was the fourth time I ran this particular race, so I knew what to expect. I was thoroughly acquainted with the course having run the RIT loop dozens of times while in graduate school. I did everything right during the race (lifted knees, kept head up, good splits, etc.) It all came together for a great race time (by my standards) of 25:53.

I have been very happy with my results all day today.

Memorial Day Weekend 2010 Recap

Started off the weekend with an evening walk around the Erie Canal to enjoy the sun set.

We continued with a lot of good food and wine.

Lots of visiting with family and friends and their several dogs. All together a total of 5 were at the house.

Jon finally came out of hiding after a couple of months!

And of course... our new nephew Tyler was making the rounds, mostly in Emily's arms.

Our Generation’s 3-Mile Island.

This morning I was reading about the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. You would have to be living under a rock in order to miss this story in the news as it has been going on for the past month. Most recently, BP’s '”top kill” method has unfortunately failed to seal the leak and stop the flow of oil.

As I read the story I realized that we are living our generation’s equivalent of the Three Mile Island disaster. For those of you who are not familiar, the Three Mile Island disaster involved a nuclear power plant located near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that in 1979, released a significant amount of radiation into the environment. Since this accident, there has not been a single approval or construction of a new nuclear power plant in the United States. During the same time period, other countries have turned to nuclear power as their major source of clean energy production (like France – 78% of electricity from nuclear).

I am willing to believe that history will repeat its self here in the aftermath of the Deep Water Horizon accident and spill. We will likely be very reluctant to grant any more licenses to drill new oil wells within the United States, and more cumbersome regulation will occur for those wells that already exist. From here on it may also be the turning point where some other countries will begin to lead the way in safe extraction and utilization of oil as a resource while we sit on the resources beneath our feet leaving them and unused.

Though the spill in the Gulf is a terrible tragedy, I do not believe that our course should involve quitting the extraction of oil in the same cold-turkey fashion as use of nuclear power. I can imagine that eons ago, the caveman who first discovered fire probably burned him self, maybe his friends/family… perhaps even burned down his house, neighborhood or forest! But did not stop man from working with fire. If we stopped, we could still be living in caves today. We figured it out despite the risks and occasional accidents involved. We were better off for it.

My most recent project.

I have been debating taking on the project of building a computer for quite some time. After dealing with a couple of failed hard drives in computers at work and considering the age of my current computers (IBM Thinkpad R50e, Dell Dimension 4550) and several general complaints of lack of computer reliability from Emily, I decided it was time to get the project underway.

After EXTENSIVE reading and self-education on the topic, I felt confident enough to buy parts (with Jon’s help of course). I owe Jon a debt of gratitude because throughout this process, he has offered his insight, help and “tech support”. Without him, I would probably have thrown the whole rig out the window!

My goal was not to build some Godly super computer capable of playing games with accelerated video graphics while simultaneously running the equivalent of a missile silo from our office (though it would be COOL!). I was looking for a mid level system using the Core i series of processors that has capability for upgrade and expansion in the future. I was hoping to keep the cost at about $600-650, $700 at the most. You’ll see what I did in the process to cut costs.

Here’s where I started, with my OLD desk top computer that I used in college about 8 years ago!

Specs:

· Celeron 1.7GHz processor

· Samsung CD-ROM (IDE)

· LiteOn CD-RW (IDE)

· ~750MB RAM (DDR)

· 1 – 10GB HD, 1 – 20GB HD (both IDE)

· Zip Drive (yeah, I know! who uses those anymore?)

· 350W power supply

· Windows XP SP3 (32-bit)

Note the off-board video card, IDE cables, and network interface card. About the only thing I was really interested in from this old computer was the case (for saving some money). So I completely gutted, removed, cleaned and inspected each individual hardware component. There was 10 years worth of dust from dorm rooms, etc. built up. Once that was cleaned out, I had a nice sturdy case to build my new system in.

Although it is old, I was interested in using the still functional LiteOn CD-RW drive (to save more money). That coupled with the DVD-ROM drive in the other Dell Dimension desktop would serve my needs for optical drives for the time being.

So here are the specs of my new system

Specs:

· Intel Core i3 530 processor

· MSI H55-GD65 Motherboard

· Samsung CD-ROM (IDE)

· LiteOn CD-RW (IDE)

· 2x2GB RAM (OCZ - Dual channel DDR3 2000)

· 150GB HD – Western Digital VelociRaptor (that’s a 2.5 inch, 10,000RPM drive!)

· 750W Corsair power supply

· Windows 7 64-bit

The case used for the computer was so old that it had no USB ports mounted on the front panel. As a matter of fact, the original computer I dismantled had a main-board with a whopping 2 USB ports accessible from the rear panel! To get around this, I purchased a 3 USB port combination hub/card reader that can be mounted in a 3.5” bay. This was a big selling point for Emily who is a “shutterfly” when it comes to taking pictures. Now she can easily take her memory cards from cameras and transfer photos. Additionally, I purchased a case fan and new D-Link wireless (G/N band) networking card that came with a nice free external antenna (because I can’t run CAT-5 cables through the walls of an apartment complex!)

The nice thing about this computer was the HDMI output built right into the motherboard. With that I was able to set up and install software while using my 32” HDTV as a monitor and not disturb the current Dell Dimension computer in the office. This is very important when you have a busy graduate student (Emily) in the house constantly writing papers.

Here’s the final product in place ready for use. It’s FAST… quiet… and runs very cool in temperature relative to the other computers. Emily is already loading it up with pictures of our new nephew Tyler. And I am having fun playing with it as well. Hopefully it will encourage me to write more blog posts. There were some snags and difficulties along the way, but I learned a lot from them and would certainly consider building a computer again.

What is the price of our rights and political representation?

Governor Patterson is resisting the urge to hold a special election to replace the disgraced congressman Eric Massa in the 29th district (my own district). His reasoning... the state of New York can not afford to hold a special election because of their budget problems.

Whether this is really for budgetary reasons or political reasons, essentially the Governor of New York State has placed a price on the voting rights and representation of every voting resident of the 29th district. How does that feel?

Normally, I am all for fiscal conservatism. I think that budgets, both state and federal have ballooned beyond sustainable levels and must be brought within control. There are however certain things that budgets MUST account for... police and fire departments, military for security and defense, education (keeping expenditures here reasonable), running the court system and maintaining the process of our representative government.

That means that special elections, despite them being an unexpected cost burden, must be held in a timely manner. Anything less is a reckless disregard for the voting and representation rights of the electorate in the particular district in question.

The consequences? Well... just think, throughout the final votes on the health care reconciliation bill, I had absolutely no elected official to contact and cast a vote on behalf of my district.

So I say to you Governor Patterson... I hope that our rights are worth for all those savings you will accumulate in your state budget. I would love to know how much money you saved for denying me of my vote and representation.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

It does not surprise me that a violent backlash against democratic congressional supporters of the HCR bill are now receiving threats and getting bricks thrown through offices. Despite the obvious public disapproval of the HCR bill, these actions are simply not proper behavior.

One thing is important to note here, the violence is something that should not be politicized as both conservatives and liberals are or have demonstrated violent behavior. (Examples of violence from liberal sources here - and here)

It simply makes no sense to politicise this behavior because it reduces us to the level of children bickering and finger-pointing on a playground. Violence will do nothing more than marginalize the views of those committing the violent acts. Consirvitive voices will be ignored because Tea Party members are considered violent gun toting bigots. Liberal voices will be ignored because they are considered tree hugging hippies. Neither of these generalizations are true.

Over the past year or so I have urged family and friends to make a difference not by picking up a brick, but by picking up their pen/phone/computer and writing a letter, e-mail or making a phone call. This is what our founders did as they penned the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. I hope and pray that our country is not entering into a period of revolution that turned violent as it did during the 1960's. If we follow that road, we will end up with a revolution like that of France where heads were rolling in the streets.

Rug pulled from under my feet...

There have been a few times in my life where something happens and it feels as if the rug has just been violently ripped out from under my feet. Something so great as to shake the very core of my being and force me to rethink the way I approach the world around me. Recently, I have had several personal experiences that have met those criteria.

The death of a young man named Peter Cannon was a major story in the news around the greater Rochester region over the past month or so. Peter was 18 years old and lost his life in a car accident while on his way to go cross country skiing (one of his favorite activities). Peter is Emily’s brother… he would have been my brother-in-law. This tragedy has cast a dark dark cloud over the family in the past month or so.

The outpouring of sympathy and support for Emily and her family has been unlike anything I have seen. The experience of seeing Emily’s parents stand by their 18 year old son’s bedside to the very last minute of his life is a heartbreaking that I wish no one should ever have to witness or live through.

So what happens next? How do you rationalize this? I lost my Grandfather in the middle of last summer, but that had a completely different feel to it. It was tragic, but deep down; we all know that we will eventually lose our grandparents (we just don’t like to think about it). But you are not supposed to lose the younger members of your family. Right? This experience is one big slap in the face for me to wake up and cherish the times with the people that you never expect to lose.

Peter was very active with volunteering in the community and helping others out. Perhaps this can be rationalized by noting that now there will be a scholarship set up in his honor that will help many students pay for college. Some of Peter’s organs were also donated allowing for the lives of others to be saved. Maybe it is like a Mitch Abom - “5 People You Meet in Heaven” story where one day we’ll learn that one of those people that was saved went on to cure cancer or something. It is a warm fuzzy thought, but a painfully difficult story to live.

So I am left with the “rug pulled from under me” feeling. No answers or rational explanation. No clear idea of what to do next. Anger and confusion dominate. No scientist like me likes to be in a situation without answers and a rational understanding. I fear I will never have these answers despite a lifetime of searching.

No one should ever have to experience these things.

PBO - SOTU Address - 2010

Being the "arm chair" politician that I am, I of course watched the State of the Union address last night. I was pretty wiped out after playing volleyball, so I only watched until 10PM.

Three remarks I must make.

1. Not once in the time that I watched the speech did the President look directly into the camera and into the eyes of the American people viewing at home. He looked left... into his teleprompter. He looked right... into his teleprompter. It looked like he was watching the pendulum of a grandfather clock swinging... left, right, left, right. Mr. President, I beg of you... TALK TO US. Don't speak to us like a an anchor reading us the nightly news.

2. A noteworthy funny moment that I picked up on while watching. While describing the deficits built up over the past decade, the poor economic growth and getting into two wars without proper funding he never once said "I inherited this mess from President Bush/previous administration". He didn't use any of those words explicitly placing blame on Bush (but the message was clear without much subtlety). This was evident when immediately as the Pres said this, the camera showed Sen. McCain turning to his right and saying "Blame it on Bush". You could not hear him but you could clearly read his lips. It was the comical event of the night and made me laugh out loud. Mr. President, I beg of you... quit blaming the last guy in charge before you arrived. Not because I am a "Bush lover" but you knew what was going on before you took office (I recall you being a Senator, and I think they work in D.C. as well). You applied for the job of President, you knew the problems facing the office of the Presidency, you got the job... TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!

3. I went to sleep before seeing this one but... you called out the Supreme court!? WTF? As I recall from my grade school social studies class, the Judicial Branch (Supreme Court) is one of three branches of government that are co-equal in power. You can't tell them what to do. It is their job to interpret the laws passed by the legislative branch and how they are enforced by the executive branch. Why call them out on a ruling they made? Mr. President, I beg of you... go READ A COPY OF THE CONSTITUTION you took an oath to uphold.

Twentysomething... A Recent Read.

I recently completed reading a book that Emily got me for Christmas. I was quite surprised by the gift because I had forgotten that it was even on my list of books I wanted to read. The book is called: "Twentysomething: Surviving and Thriving in the Real World".

I knew the book would be about how to deal with the hardships and joys associated with living as a "twentysomething" but I did not expect there to be so much spirituality involved. A main emphasis of the book was the importance of faith (particularly Catholicism). There is much talk in this book about how God has a plan for all of us. A concept hard for me to accept because it lies contrary to free will over our future.

Yet sometimes I wonder...

For instance, I spent a year of graduate school at SUNY Buffalo that turned out to be a nightmare. I made some poor decisions regarding which direction I wanted to go academically and it turned out to be a nightmare for me. I realized this, made some tough decisions and transferred to RIT for my Masters Degree. While this was going on I thought, "Why the heck is this happening to me?"

A couple of years later at Nazareth (my Alma mater) while sitting on a informational panel for undergrads looking to go on to graduate school, I was able to share my experience. In doing so, I hopefully allowed others to learn something and avoid going through a similar experience as I did.

Without going through the tough patches I did, I would have been unable to share the experience and help others.

So does God have a plan... sometimes I wonder.

The good, the bad and the ugly of 2009.

2009 was a year that was both filled with very happy yet some very sad events. There were many firsts. I have not made a habit of sharing enough of the personal events going on in my life, so this may be a good time to catch up. I will try to spend a bit more time writing about such things. (Call it a New Years resolution.)

Let's recap:

1. Engagements! Some big firsts in our family. First, the engagement of my younger brother, Jeremy, to his girlfriend Ellen. That happened in February. They are set to get married on July 24, 2010. Then who could forget... my engagement to my long time college sweetheart, the love of my life, Emily! :-) Read the full story here. We eventually decided upon May 21, 2011 for our wedding. This way we allow our parents to regain some sanity between weddings!
2. A very sad first for me. I had my first experience with the loss of a grandparent. On July 6th, my grandfather (Jon) passed away. This was after a sudden cardiac arrest after which he held on for 13 days. This is pretty unheard of considering that about 90% of patients who experience this don't even make it to the hospital alive. Sitting through the meetings with the doctors slowly coming to the realization that you are about to loose a loved one, having to disseminate that info to your family, helping carry the casket down the aisle of the church... all things that were much more difficult than I could have ever imagined.
   
3. In April, I marked my first full year with my first real job as a chemist. I have been with Kelly Scientific ever since graduating from RIT. Future outlook looks good.
   
4. To add insult to injury, about 2 weeks after the death of my grandfather, my father lost his job of 19 years with Calspan...
5. ...about a week or two before Christmas, dad got a job! He's a mechanic in an ice cream factory helping to maintain the machinery used to make ice cream. Pretty neat! He was out of work for 6 months but starts again in January of 2010.
6. For the second year in a row, our family went on vacation for a week in the Thousand Islands. A nice break for my parents given the loss of grandpa and my father's job.
7. On that vacation... Emily got the wonderful news that she got a job! A long term substitute teaching job for a year.
   
8. Mom had shoulder surgery... then a nasty sinus infection... then pleurisy... then another cold/sinus infection... then the wrong prescription... then... well, you get the picture. Just one to many health problems. No fun for her.
9. Just a couple weeks before Christmas, our family dog Baily, had to be put to sleep. A pretty difficult thing to do since she was home to provide companionship to my mother while she recovered from surgery and my father while he was out of work.

Lots of these things were pretty difficult firsts... so I am glad to put 2009 behind me and start fresh with 2010.